Myths and Mirrors
by Globby
Summary: This was supposed to be a nice mini vacation. A little get away out of town before they start school again. No one said anything about dares. Dares that included walking in a dark hall way, a candle, a mirror and a legend. Just because she was strong doesn't mean she wasn't scared! Set before Akane and Ranmas's meeting as fiance's.
1. Her curse

It was moments like this that Akane regrets her pride, her inability to refuse a challenge even if she knew that she was just walking right into someone's trap. Cursing silently, she adjusts her hold on the arm of the candle holder, feeling its smooth surface heating more and more with each passing moment.

Walking in a darkened hallway of an unfamiliar house, she feels herself shiver slightly, not sure if it was from the cold breeze brought by the late night or the small terror in her chest.

This was supposed to be a nice mini vacation. A little get away out of town before they start school again. No one said anything about dares. Dares that included walking in a dark hall way, a candle, a mirror and a legend. Just because she was strong doesn't mean she wasn't scared. They were out of town, a little more than six hours away from home, on a really old house, of course she was scared!

Seeing the steps that led to the second floor, Akane began going up, the floorboards squeaking with each step. Akane bit her lip, tucking her long hair back, she covered the small flame as she takes a step. She's doomed if it ever went out.

Stupid Yuka-chan. Who cares about an old myth? They could have just told scary stories and stayed in the room cuddled up in their safe, warm blankets. Instead, Akane was here. In the dark, with nothing but a candle to protect her.

 _You don't need a bokken, Akane-chan. You just have to go upstairs, three rooms on the left, the last one. It has this beautiful mirror. You just have to old up the candle in front of it and chant the words there. My grandmother did it when she was young in front of that very mirror! She says it really works!_

Hmp. As if she'd really see her future husband there! Yuka-chan's really gullible! Being the one on the task to confirm it didn't mean that Akane was gullible too… well maybe a little.

The farthest room on the left. Walking towards it, she takes note of how small the space was. It almost looks like a broom closet. Maybe a bit bigger than that. She held the door knob with her free hand, dust clinging on her palm. This room must have not been used in ages…

The door opened with a small squeak. Stretching her hand with the candle to get a better view of the room, Akane sighed in relief as she saw a window, the moon adding to the small light of her candle. Walking inside, she notices how there really isn't anything in the room. Just space. And the one painfully obvious furniture on the room. It was covered in a cloth but Akane already knew what it is. After all, it was why she was here.

Taking a handful of cloth, she hastily pulls it off. The sooner she gets this over with, the sooner she can return to the room with her friends. She instantly regrets the action as dust scattered throughout the room. She closed her eyes instinctively. Coughing, she frantically waves her hand in the air in attempt to clear it.

And then she sees it. Her breath escapes her for a moment.

Yuka-chan was right; the mirror was beautiful.

Hesitantly, Akane daintily touched the cool surface of the frame, her fingers following the swirl of patterns. Intricate designs and small jewels decorated the edges. It was gold plated, a bit dusty but still lovely. Finally, her lithe fingers touched the mirror. The surface glinted with the moon light, just at the right angle for the tiny jewels around it to glimmer beautifully, enhancing its magnificence. The small flame from her candle added to the effect. Akane wondered why it was left here in this abandoned room when it could very well be the center piece of the house. It was old, she can tell from the darkening edges, but it still reflected the image of her hand where it connected with the mirror with crystal clear precision.

Her eyes travelled from the reflection of her hand to the ones looking back at her. She gasped silently. Suddenly, it's as if there was a different girl on the reflection. As if the Akane on the mirror was entirely different from who she was. It was still her but… Were her cheeks that rosy, maybe it was because of the scare earlier? And is it just her or is her frame more, dare she say it, feminine? Had she been smiling, it's as if her lips were curved in a soft almost breathy sigh of a smile. But those details didn't register as much as the change in her eyes. How it seems so different, so far from the ones she saw just this morning. Her brown eyes, always strong and determined, strangely glinted with a look of soft fondness, trust and… something entirely unfamiliar.

She blinked rapidly; once _, a flash of short hair_ , twice, trice, and when she opened her eyes, it was her again. No strangeness. No unfamiliar emotions swirling in the depth of her eyes.

She suddenly felt a small sense of loss. Shaking those thoughts off, Akane looked at the mirror again, task returning to her.

 _Let's just get this over with._

Placing the candle on the small table in front of the mirror, Akane took out a pocket watch from her pocket.

 _You have to do this the exact moment the hand strikes 12, Akane-chan! Or it won't work at all!_

Akane sighed, 11:56. She's tempted to go back saying it didn't work. Honestly, they weren't kids anymore! Who would have thought her friends were dumb enough to believe that if you chant words in front of a mirror at midnight they would see their future husband? Or if all goes down, a demon, or so the legend says. Her agreeing and squealing in excitement with them until she picked the wrong straw did not mean anything!

 _Tick tock, tick tock._

 _11:57._

She could just go back but… maybe she might be a little sort of curious if it would work.

Her future husband… what would he be like? Maybe he'd be handsome, polite, intelligent, sweet, gentle, tall... maybe like a certain doctor she knew… _oooh_ _the possibilities_!

Yep. She wasn't doing this because she believed that ridiculous myth. It was just… it was a shame not to do it since she went through all of this trouble. And… and her honor! She couldn't fake out of a challenge, right?! Right…

 _Tick tock, tick tock._

 _11:58._

She hears a brief splash of water from her left. Looking towards the window, Akane remembers that there was a koi pond at the back of the house just like the one in her home. The movement of the fishes sometimes causes splashes. They must have bigger fishes here… She wonders if Nabiki remembered to feed the koi's today. Akane looks back to her watch.

 _11:59_

Akane gulped, her palms sweaty. Her heart beat accelerating.

 _Akane-chan, you have to follow exactly what I say, okay?_

 _Tick tock. 57._

With a gulp of air, Akane looked at the mirror, a steel look of determination. This is it.

 _You have to look at the mirror._

 _Tick tock. 58._

She'd know for sure if he was the one for her or if she should just give up. A tiny voice in her heart whimpered a 'please be him'.

The candle light danced teasingly at the mirror, lighting Akane's face.

 _Candle in front…_

 _Tick tock. 59._

 _Then say the chant. Not with your mouth, though! With your heart! You have to say it with your heart!_

What the heck did that even mean?

The grandfather clock from outside clanged rightfully.

 _Now!_

A gust of wind, the candle's small flame danced with it, once, twice;

Akane closed her eyes tightly, heart pounding she chanted with all her heart.

' _Mirror, mirror, show to me the person whose soul is bonded to me!'_

The flame went out.

Opening her eyes slowly, she stared back at her reflection. Or at least what she could see with the moon light. Nothing. Just her reflection. Her. Not _him_. Not anyone. Just her.

She sighed in disappointment. Really, what did she expect? She knew this was a phony legend. At this rate, she'd never know if she should stop pinning on Dr. Tofu… Did she really have a chance, though? To him she was just a child. Then, there was Kasumi. Her shoulders slumped as she felt around the table for her candle.

 _Might as well go back._

Turning towards the door, she outstretched her hand to feel her surroundings.

 _Darn it, it was dark! Great. Now she had to walk in the dark. Stupid dare. Stupid myth. Stupid mirror. Stupid wind. Stupid window. Couldn't even do its job righ-_

Wait… The window was closed when she entered the room. Then how did the wind-

Looking towards it, her heart stopped, her stomach fell as she saw it wide open. Simultaneously, her outstretched hand bumped into something warm, hard, _beating_.

 _The legend says, if it fails, a demon would appear instead._

Turning her head slowly, as if to delay her impending doom, Akane looked in front of her, and saw dark eyes staring back at her.

"EEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

* * *

 _ **2018! Anyone still alive in this fandom?!**_


	2. His curse

No way! No way in hell was he going with this!

His old man can throw all the punches, kicks, and chi's all he wants, but he cannot make Ranma marry a stranger! Darn it! There are more important matters he had to go to. Like going back to China for the cure. Inheriting their school might be what Ranma lived for, but when his manhood was the one on the line, then all bets are off!

Jumping on another tree expertly, he struggled to remain conscious. Swimming all the way from China to Japan is taking its toll on him. And, luckily for Ranma, his pop was drained too. If Ranma wanted to escape marriage, now was the only time he could. Knowing his pop, the moment he wakes up, he'd drag Ranma right into the altar and he'd be wed to some weirdo before he could even know what was going on.

No way was he going to get married when he was half-woman!

Just thinking about it filled him with shame. Him, martial arts extraordinaire; a sex changing freak! If anyone knew about his curse, Ranma would die in humiliation. His classmates on his previous highschool would surely trample over him with this knowledge. They'd always envied him, after all.

Being enrolled in an all-boys school meant survival of the fittest. Ranma being on top of all manly activities gained him a lot of enemies. Ryoga… that idiot was the only one he could somehow call a friendly rival. After all, even if Ryoga cursed him up and down, he was actually the only guy Ranma hanged out with. Even if it was because he had to take the directionally challenged idiot to his own home. Kami, If Ryoga learned about this curse, he'd never let Ranma live it down.

Shampoo was another reason. He'd literally die if she had her way.

Darn it! This curse keeps getting annoying. He hated it! Changing into a woman of all things! He'd always respected women. Even vowed never to raise a fist on them. But darn it! It was different when it was _him_ being a woman! He wanted to pound himself to the ground at the mere thought of him anything less than being manly. He'd built himself all his life to be this unmistakably strong manly male, then with one splash of water, it all goes down the drain. If anyone sees him this way, his prospective fiancé even, he'd wallow in humiliation.

So, no way. No way in hell was he going to stay here in Japan half-woman. He'd destroy his life here before he could even start it. No one would just accept a freak like him.

 _Escape his pop. Go back to China. Get the cure. Get back to his pop and drag him for more training._

That's the only course he'd take. No staying as half-woman, no marriages. No fiancés.

Right!

With a sudden blast of energy from his thoughts, Ranma miscalculated the strength of the next branch.

CRACK!

"WAAAH!"

SPLASH!

"Darn it! Who puts a Koi pond in the middle of the forest?!" Gritting her teeth, Ranma ushers herself to her feet, her clothes suddenly large and heavy with water.

Walking out of the small pond, she looks back to where she was heading, the trees where she had to go back to seemed to stretched out forever. There wasn't any sign of the exit.

"It would take me hours before I get out of this forest." Her head was woozy, fatigue getting the most of her. Sighing, she took off her shirt, squeezing the water out of it. Ranma sat beside the pond, she took his pack and took out her hot water filled-thermos. Having this curse, she learned that not only was he transformed into a she, she was also doomed to stay wet 90% of the time. She learned that the hard way the first few times Shampoo hunted her down. Hot water on her pack was a constant now.

She poured it into her head. The transformation was immediate. He took his extra clothes from his pack and changed into them.

Ranma thought his next course of action. With fatigue and distance of this forest, he won't last for longer. At this rate he'd collapse on a ditch somewhere and his newly rested father would find him for sure.

 _Gotta set up camp. But where? His father would find him easily here out in the open._

Looking to his right, Ranma just _knew_ there was someone up there looking out for him. It was a house. A vacation house, it looks like. He could weep in happiness. Just what he needed.

He pondered briefly if he should knock in front to see if there were people inside. But it looks abandoned and really old. And it would be just one night. If there were people inside, they wouldn't even know he was there. Nodding to himself, he set down his pack and headed silently to the small window on the second floor. It would be the best choice seeing it was at the far off end of the house if he wanted to go undetected. Bit high but nothing he can't climb.

With a jump, a little bit of hanging, some flips, he smoothly landed at the roof, hanging upside down, he maneuvered his upper body to open the window silently. With it open, he fluidly jumped into the room. He smirked to himself. That was way too easy. No sound, not even a squeak. Mastering Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Technique of Elephant-daintily-prancing-on-eggshells sure was paying off!

Eyes still adjusting to the darkness, Ranma walked around for a bit, maybe he should look around the house to see if there were people here. Or maybe not. He felt his head throb slightly, his vision going blurry for a second. This room was fine. Just one night of rest would do. Just one night, and he would be off to China for that cure! No more Ranma woman!

Eyes adjusting to the dark, his attention snagged by the light glinting on the mirror. He briefly saw his frame on the reflection, standing sideways from the mirror. It looks like the only thing on the room. Ranma blinked his eyes, wait, why did it look like there was someone else on the reflecti-

A hand made its way to his chest. His stomach dropped. Looking away from the mirror, he slowly turned his head to the hand connected to his chest.

His eyes adjusted enough to see a person, a girl slowly, looking towards him.

Their eyes connected.

Wha-

"EEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-MMP!"

In a frenzy, he covered his hand to her mouth. His heart was pounding to his chest.

Scratch that thought that someone was looking out for him up there; _someone up there really liked messing up with him!_

Because of his internal thoughts, Ranma was happily oblivious to the candle holder on its way to his face.

* * *

 **Sorry this took so long! I've been busy with exams. Still am, actually. Got to be ready in an hour. But I just thought I'd leave this here updated. I didn't think anyone would notice this. I just wrote this as a stress reliever! I'm so glad you guys liked it! Here you go. I hope you liked Ranma's POV! This would probably have five chapters at most.**

 **Here's replies to you guys who even left reviews!**

 **Pangoria Fallstar: Yeah, I'll do my best to spice things up a bit! I hope you like this update! Thanks for being first reviewer!**

 **aliesterus: More than ever, I can relate to the feeling of being dead than alive! I wrote this fic in the middle of exams just to get a grip again. I'm so tired, so I tried doing something I love. I'm glad I did. More than de-stressing myself through writing, I get to talk to you guys! Thanks for reviewing! I hope this chap gets you to relax for a couple of minutes!**

 **Guest (Reader): Thanks! I'm glad you think so! (Writer)**

 **Guest: _So much energy! I never would have expected such enthusiasm in this old fandom!_ Jk. Thanks for the review! I don't know why but when I read your review I imagined this bubbly voice in my head. Haha. I'm craving for fics too! Where can I get me some more of Ranma and Akane! **

**I appreciate the hearts and that yellow ribbon thingies left in the fic! Thanks! See you next chapter!**


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